[JamesCH95]

I think many of the sports defense analogies are going to apply directly to Ariel Assist in a big way: you don't play basketball, hockey, or soccer with two game pieces, one of which the opposing team cannot take away from you.

I think playing man-to-man (bot-to-bot?) defense in the strictest sense is going to be a bad idea because it leaves no room for any offense. Or, if a robot does break off to play offense, it will probably leave a huge gap in the defense.

I think zone defense, in the strictest sense, will not be a good idea as well, because it may mean that a robot (or robots) is(are) left sitting in a zone, doing nothing while the action is out of their zone.

I really like the idea of 'defending the ball' rather than any specific robot or zone.

I think a mixture of these three play styles will be the right way to go. I think there will generally be three positions (to steal from soccer terminology):

Sweeper - This robot never lets the opponents ball past them. They play tenacious defense, mostly on the near-side of the field. If they are (reasonably) free they will inbound the ball to their alliance, but otherwise stay focused on defense.

Mid-Fielder - Generally stays down-field of the sweeper. Very good at acquiring and passing the ball. Will team up with sweeper to play defense when needed, but will also team up and support the Striker to score (probably more important than doubling-up defense). Ideally this robot can throw/toss the ball over the truss (i.e. a through-pass or chip-shot) to the striker.

Striker - Ideally this robot can catch a truss shot/toss, but at a minimum can ground-load like nobodies business. Ideally this robot can score in the top goal, but the low-goal will suffice if assist and truss/catch points are solid. The robot generally stays down-field of the other two, but should not be afraid of dropping back close to home if it is required defensively or to help work the ball down the field. They are also the first line of defense: they play strong defense against the ball on the far side of the field when they're not occupied playing offense. When the striker is on offense the Mid-Fielder takes on the role of front-line defense, attacking the ball for the whole length of the field until it is required to play offense again.

Similar to zone defense the robots generally don't change their down-the-field order, but they shouldn't be restricted to one particular section of the field. Similar to bot-to-bot defense the robots can follow the ball or a specific robot the entire length of the field, but continuous attention to one specific robot isn't required or expected. Defensively each robot is focused on the ball when it's near them.

I hesitate to call this strategy or tactic 'zone,' 'man-to-man,' or 'ball' defense. I'm not sure what to call it, but I think it's a very effective way for an alliance to operate.